Rowland's Castle is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of Parish (administrative division), administrative parish used for Local government in England, local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below district ...

in the

East Hampshire East Hampshire is a local government district in Hampshire, England. Its council is based in Petersfield. Other towns are Alton and Bordon. The district was originally to be known as the District Council of Petersfield. It comprised 42 seat ...

district of

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

, England. It is 2.9 miles (4.7 km) north of

Havant Havant ( ) is a town in the south-east corner of Hampshire, England between Portsmouth and Chichester. Its borough (population: 125,000) comprises the town (45,826) and its suburbs including the resort of Hayling Island as well as Rowland's Cas ...

, on the Hampshire/West Sussex border. The focal point of the village is the

village green A village green is a common open area within a village or other settlement. Historically, a village green was common grassland with a pond for watering cattle and other stock, often at the edge of a rural settlement, used for gathering cattle t ...

which is shaped somewhat like a lung. Surrounded by roads it is about long and about wide at its eastern end while tapering to almost a point at the western end near the railway arch. The village takes its name from a

motte-and-bailey A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. Relatively easy to ...

castle, the remains of which are situated to the south of Redhill Road and west of the railway line, east of the current centre of the village.

History

Evidence the Romans made pottery, brick and tiles in the Rowland's Castle vicinity has been uncovered, and this would have been aided due to the availability of suitable clay. The castle was built at some time between 1066 and 1199 and is first documented under the name ROLOKECASTEL in 1381. It was in good repair in the twelfth century, when Henry II spent several days there in hunting and amusement, but was abandoned by the 15th century. The site was damaged by the railway and quarrying in the 19th century, and now only the earthworks and a few small areas of wall remain.

Governance

Rowland's Castle is a ward and a parish council area within the

local government district The districts of England (also known as local authority districts or local government districts to distinguish from unofficial city districts) are a level of subnational division of England used for the purposes of local government. As the st ...

. It is also part of the

UK Parliament constituency.

Geography

The village lies in the area of the former Forest of Bere on the eastern boundary of Hampshire. To the east in the parish of Stoughton is Stansted Park. Rowland's Castle lies on the northern edge of the

Neogene The Neogene ( ), informally Upper Tertiary or Late Tertiary, is a geologic period and system that spans 20.45 million years from the end of the Paleogene Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the present Quaternary Period Mya. ...

deposits of the

Hampshire Basin The Hampshire Basin is a geological basin of Palaeogene age in southern England, underlying parts of Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Dorset, and Sussex. Like the London Basin to the northeast, it is filled with sands and clays of Paleocene and ...

. The north of the village lies on the chalk of the southern

South Downs The South Downs are a range of chalk hills that extends for about across the south-eastern coastal counties of England from the Itchen valley of Hampshire in the west to Beachy Head, in the Eastbourne Downland Estate, East Sussex, in the ea ...

. In the south is the

Reading Formation The Reading Formation is a geologic formation in southern England. It dates to the Paleocene period, and is part of the Lambeth Group. It overlies the London Basin and is below the Harwich Formation. The formation is composed of "a series of l ...

which gave rise to the former local brick industry.

Economy

It is largely a quiet residential village, with four pubs and a few small shops, including a hardware store and a local convenience store.

Culture and community

Rowlands Castle Association The Rowlands Castle Association has its own website at https://www.rowlandscastle.com. '
Rowlands Castle Heritage Centre
'' A

model railway Railway modelling (UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland) or model railroading (US and Canada) is a hobby in which rail transport systems are modelled at a reduced scale. The scale models include locomotives, rolling stock, streetcars, t ...

depicting the village during the war has been created and is on display at nearby Stansted House.

Transport

Rowland's Castle is served by Rowlands Castle railway station on the Portsmouth Direct Line between London Waterloo and

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city status in the United Kingdom, city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is admi ...

served by the generally hourly stopping service. There is just one significant bus route which operates every two hours during core daytime and goes via

Leigh Park Leigh Park is a large suburb (population 27,500) of Havant, in Hampshire, England. It currently forms the bulk or whole of four electoral wards: Battins, Bondfields, Barncroft and Warren Park (generally referred to as 'The Warren'). Staunton ...

and Denvilles to

Emsworth Emsworth is a town in the Borough of Havant in the county of Hampshire, England, near the border of West Sussex and located at by the south coast of England. It lies at the north end of an arm of Chichester Harbour, a large and shallow inlet ...

. The village is crossed by several long-distance footpaths: the

Monarch's Way The Monarch's Way is a long-distance footpath in England that approximates the escape route taken by King Charles II in 1651 after being defeated in the Battle of Worcester. It runs from Worcester via Bristol and Yeovil to Shoreham, West S ...

Sussex Border Path The Sussex Border Path is a long-distance footpath around the borders of Sussex, a historic county and former medieval kingdom in southern England. The main path is long and stays close to Sussex's borders with Hampshire, Surrey and Kent, ...

, Staunton Way and Shipwrights Way. National Cycle Route 22 passes by the village green on its route from Havant to

Petersfield Petersfield is a market town and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is north of Portsmouth. The town has its own railway station on the Portsmouth Direct line, the mainline rail link connecting Portsmouth a ...

Religious sites

St John the Baptist

The Church of England parish church of St John the Baptist is situated to the west of the centre of the village close to the B2149 road. It is an aisled church with transept and chapels with the east window being a stained-glass depiction of the Crucifixion by Francis Austin.

Church on the Green
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The Church on the Green United Reformed Church is prominent at the west end of the green.

St. Hubert's chapel
St Hubert's chapel or church is in the far north of the civil parish,
Idsworth Idsworth is an isolated hamlet, with mediaeval Saxon origins, in the East Hampshire district and South Downs National Park in Hampshire, England. Formerly the centre of a Norman manor, its small population means the place is one of a few small ...
.Nearby.Org Co-ordinate converter
coordinate location It was built in 1053 and was originally dedicated to St. Peter and St. Paul. It is a
Grade I listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Ire ...
building, listed on 16 March 1954. The chapel contains examples of medieval paintings from around 1300 which include paintings around the altar window of St Peter, St Paul, and two angels. On the north wall there is a painting of St. Hubert and St John the Baptist. The
narthex The narthex is an architectural element typical of early Christian and Byzantine basilicas and churches consisting of the entrance or lobby area, located at the west end of the nave, opposite the church's main altar. Traditionally the narthex ...
contains an octagonal stone font and above it is a gallery which contains the church organ. Idsworth, based on its compact late
Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country ( Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the No ...
church, was a chapelry long including Rowland's Castle and until a recent date unknown was dependent on the mother church of
Chalton Chalton may refer to: Chalton, Bedfordshire, England Chalton, Hampshire, England See also
Charlton (disambiguation) {{place name disambiguation ...
. Hence a dispute concerning the right to appoint the chaplain arose in 1275 between Henry de Bonynges, lord of the manor of Idsworth, who claimed it as an ''appurtenance'', versus the prioress of Nuneaton, who made good (made out better) her right as patron of Chalton church, and therefore of the ''appendant'' chapel. The rectors of Chalton were bound from very early times to find a chaplain at the chapel to say mass on Sundays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and on double feasts throughout the year, and to administer the sacraments and other rites (except the burial of the dead) for the inhabitants of the hamlets of Idsworth "and Dene" (Horndean, or perhaps Finchdean). Sir William Haughe, rector of Chalton, discontinued this practice in 1394 and so proceedings were taken against him in the
Court of Arches The Arches Court, presided over by the Dean of Arches, is an ecclesiastical court of the Church of England covering the Province of Canterbury. Its equivalent in the Province of York is the Chancery Court. It takes its name from the street-level ...
by Richard Romyn, lord of Idsworth manor, and the rest of the inhabitants of the two villages before Thomas Stowe and Adam Uske, who decided that the rector was liable by custom to find a chaplain to minister in Idsworth Chapel. This "sentence" (ruling) was published by the
bishop of Winchester The Bishop of Winchester is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Winchester in the Church of England. The bishop's seat ('' cathedra'') is at Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire. The Bishop of Winchester has always held '' ex officio'' (except ...
on 1 May 1398, and confirmed by the prior and chapter of Winchester on 3 June.'Parishes: Chalton', in A History of the County of Hampshire: Volume 3, ed. William Page (London, 1908), pp. 102-110. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/hants/vol3/pp102-110 ccessed 27 January 2019

Sport and leisure
The village has an 18-hole golf course; the club being formed in 1902 with a 9-hole course. In 1994 Stage 5 of the Tour de France passed through Rowland's Castle, attracting large crowds with its carnival atmosphere.

Notable people
Former
Van Morrison Sir George Ivan Morrison (born 31 August 1945), known professionally as Van Morrison, is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose recording career spans seven decades. He has won two Grammy Awards. As a teenager in ...
guitarist and
Britain's Got Talent ''Britain's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated to ''BGT'') is a televised British talent show competition, and part of the global ''Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. Presented by Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly (colloquially ...
contestant Herbie Armstrong once ran ''The Fountain Inn'' in the centre of the village next to the village green. His weekly live music evenings attracted music lovers from across the region, and have been known to include some famous faces;
Mick Hucknall Michael James Hucknall (born 8 June 1960) is an English singer and songwriter. Hucknall achieved international fame in the 1980s as the lead singer and songwriter of the soul-influenced pop band Simply Red, with whom he enjoyed a 25-year caree ...
on one occasion. Former British No. 1 tennis player Chris Wilkinson remains active in the local, county and national levels.

Gallery
Image:RCURC P1010103.JPG, The Church on the Green Image:RCVHP1010107.JPG, Parish Hall Image:RCFP1010101.JPG, The Fountain (live music venue) Image:BowesHJnctnP1010094.JPG, Bowes Hill Junction

References

External links
http://www.rowlandscastlepc.org.uk/ – Parish Council website * http://www.rowlandscastle.com – Rowlands Castle village website and discussion forum * http://www.rowlandscastleheritagecentre.org.uk/more-about-us/ Rowlands Castle Heritage Centre website {{authority control Castles in Hampshire Villages in Hampshire Civil parishes in Hampshire East Hampshire District